Rolling Greens will roll into Arts District with 64K sf lease

Maybe the grass is greener in the Arts District after all.

Rolling Greens, the Los Angeles nursery chain known for high-end plant arrangements, will soon call the hip neighborhood its third home.

The luxury greenhouse and home accessories retailer, founded by Greg Salmari, has inked a five-year lease for a 64,000-square-foot former scrap metal yard on Mateo Street. The lease has two five-year renewal options after it ends.

The leased property contains two unenclosed metal sheds and a plot of land, according to JLL’s Paul Park, who represented Rolling Greens in the deal. Though plans are not finalized, the nursery will most likely build sheltering structures within the metal sheds — a “box-in-box” approach,” he told The Real Deal.

The owners, private investor Julie Kwon and her partner, were represented by David Brandt of Lee & Associates. Kwon originally considered a creative office conversion for the property, which spans 1.7 acres, but opted to lease instead, Park said.

There is one remaining metal structure on Kwon’s property that she did not lease out.

Rolling Greens will pour at least $1 million into building out its new space, Park added.

The trendy plant shop has one outpost in Culver City on Jefferson Boulevard and another in Fairfax on Beverly Boulevard.

Just a half-mile north, the At Mateo retail and creative office development is in the final stages of construction. At 676 Mateo, Maxxam Enterprises is planning a 172-unit live-work complex with about 23,000 square feet of commercial space. And nearby, Carmel Partners is gearing up for an even bigger residential project: a 600-unit condo complex plus 60,000 square feet of commercial space at 520-532 South Mateo Street.